Tales From Gotham City Substory: Who picked up Rachel?
by alanish2
Summary: A story about when Ramirez picked up Rachel Dawes and delivered her into the hands of the mob. What did they talk about on the way there? Did Rachel suspect anything? Tales from Gotham City is a group of interlinked stories which link together into one larger story.
1. Chapter 1

'_But you have been working with the Batman all along…_'

Rachel's eyes were glued to the television. When she'd last seen Harvey he'd been climbing into the back of a police van, in hand-cuffs. She'd been so _scared_ then… and _angry_. At both of them. Part of her hated them… Bruce for letting Harvey take the fall, and Harvey for going through with it with a smile on his face. How could he do this without even talking to her first?

'_N__o… but I trusted him to do the right thing._'

But seeing that same smiling face on TV, safe and sound… she felt like crying with relief. She'd returned home afterwards going back to Bruce's penthouse was no longer an option after she'd left Alfred with her note. If Bruce had already read it… she didn't know if she was ready to face him yet. So she'd sat, still as a statue, in front of the TV… waiting for news.

'_Which was?_'

And that news was what she was glued to. Everything had turned out like they'd wanted. The Joker was in custody, Harvey was safe… hell, even Gordon was back from the dead. So why did she still feel so… frightened? Something was coming she could feel it in her bones. There was this… _wall_ behind her eyes that she didn't want to look past. Of course, she knew what it was the Joker had named her, had promised to kill her… and yet he hadn't even made an attempt yet. Neither had any of his _thugs_.

She stood quickly and grabbed her coat. If something bad was about to happen, then she knew who she wanted to be with when it did.

'_Saving my ass…_'

Rachel flipped the power switch on the TV and Harvey's face was replaced by a black screen. Before she reached the door, however, she stopped. The interview she'd been watching wasn't live she figured it was maybe ten or fifteen minutes old. So where was Harvey? If he wasn't heading here then he'd at least have called, wouldn't he?

She got her phone out and dialled his number, but there was no answer. Standing there, in the middle of her apartment, she felt more alone than she had ever before. She jumped in fright as her phone suddenly started to ring. She didn't recognise the number that came up but she hoped that it would be Harvey's voice she heard.

It wasn't.

"Miss Dawes?" a hesitant voice asked. It was a woman's voice, and she sounded nervous. That immediately put Rachel on alert.

"Yes?" she responded.

"It's, uh… Lieutenant Ramirez", the woman's voice said. "Have you heard the news about Mr Dent, ma'am?"

Rachel had met Ramirez before, at the MCU. She seemed… nice, she supposed. _Dedicated. _ She seemed to spend more time there than not, which Rachel figured meant she had an unhealthy obsession with her work. But she was one of Gordon's team, which relaxed her she trusted Gordon, and he trusted Ramirez.

"Yes, Lieutenant, I've heard the news about Harvey, though he hasn't contacted me and I don't know where he is". Not very subtle, Rachel thought, but despite her calm voice she was desperate to see Harvey, and she didn't care if Ramirez knew it.

There was a brief pause before Ramirez answered. "That's why I'm calling, ma'am", she said, eventually. "Harvey's been taken to a safe house where he'll be debriefed"

"A safe house?" Rachel interrupted. "I thought the Joker was in custody. Who does he need protecting from?"

"The mob", Ramirez responded quickly. "The Joker was never working alone. He was being backed by the mob, and they have a pretty strong grudge against Ha… Mr Dent. He wasn't very happy with the idea, as you could probably guess. He said he had a date with a very angry girlfriend to get to".

Rachel smiled that sounded like Harvey. He was never one to run and hide… not without a fight, anyway. But she was glad he was safe.

"I've been asked to pick you up", Ramirez continued. "I'll take you to Harvey".

Rachel paused before answering. Of course she was desperate to see Harvey, but she didn't know what kind of state of mind he'd be in. Part of their work was done the Joker was behind bars but the hard part was just beginning. There would be a trial. Would the Joker try to plead insanity? If he did, he'd get off with a lighter sentence a few years in Arkham for all the chaos he'd caused. They had to try and convince a court that he wasn't insane, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

"How long till you get here?" Rachel asked.

"I'll just be a few minutes", Ramirez answered quickly. "I'll be there soon". And with that, she hung up her phone. Rachel stared at hers for a moment before hiding it away in her coat pocket. Harvey would want to talk business, she knew, about the Joker. But she had something that she desperately wanted to tell him an answer that she'd taken too long in giving.

She wanted to tell him "Yes".


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel Dawes was frightened, but she didn't know what of. All she knew was that there was a… coldness in the pit of her stomach, which she couldn't shake. But it made no sense. The man she loved, who'd risked his life for what he felt was right, was safe and sound… the monster who had been terrorising the city for the past week was behind bars. So what was left to be frightened of?

When Ramirez phone up to her apartment to say that she had arrived, and was waiting for her downstairs, she actually felt relieved that she would have another person to keep her company. Her apartment was on the fifth floor, and the elevators were out. She hated having to walk down the stairs, and with her mind so on edge… she kept thinking that some thug was about to jump out at her from behind every corner.

By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was dripping with a cold sweat. She must have looked bad, because Ramirez's eyes widened when she saw her.

"You okay, ma'am?" she asked, concern filling her voice. "You look sick".

Rachel forced herself to smile. "I'll be fine", she said, and mentally added _When I'm with Harvey…_ She was impatient to get in the car and set off, but she felt like she had to ask… "How is everyone? I hear Jim's back from the dead".

Ramirez's response wasn't quite what Rachel had expected. Instead of relief, there was… guilt? She was hiding something, and Rachel could see it. Suddenly she was having second thoughts about getting in a car with her.

"Um…" she said, looking around at Ramirez's car. It was a run down compact, which looked like it was on its last legs. "Maybe we should go in my car?" Of course, Rachel wanted to use her car because she knew it wouldn't break down half way there, but there was an ulterior motive. Her own car was fitted with a transmitter, which would let the cops know it location. All DA's and Assistant DA's had them fitted recently, after Rachel's old boss had been murdered.

Ramirez shuffled her feet, and hesitated. "Well…" she mumbled eventually. "I'd prefer to use mine, if it's all the same. The neighbourhood Harvey's holed up in isn't exactly upmarket. I don't want us to stand out…"

_Hmmmm…_ Rachel thought. _That makes sense. But she'd definitely nervous about something… Still, Gordon vouched for this woman._ "Alright" she said with a smile. Ramirez nodded, climbed into her car and unlocked the passenger side door. Rachel climbed in quickly, and the car lurched out into the road.

Rachel and Ramirez sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes before either of them could think of anything to say. Finally, Rachel spoke. "So…" she said. "What made you join the MCU?"

Ramirez glanced to the side at her and smiled. "I dunno", she sighed. "I guess I felt I could make a bigger difference at Major Crimes. I worked homicide for a while… which was horrific. I tell you, Miss Dawes, this city has one hell of an ugly side…"

Rachel smiled bitterly. "Yeah", she said softly. "I've seen my share of it. And call me Rachel".

Ramirez nodded slowly. "Anyway…" she continued. "I got sick of seeing dead bodies and not finding their killers, so I started looking at any opportunity to get out. I even thought about going back to being a beat cop, walking the streets… but I couldn't afford the wage drop".

Rachel laughed quietly. "I guess your pay check's a little bigger at MCU".

Ramirez smiled and nodded. "Could always be bigger though" she said absently, and they both laughed. "Course", she added. "I wanted to be a cop for the same reason as everyone else, I suppose".

"You get to legally fire your gun at people?" Rachel joked.

Ramirez's face broke into a wide grin, the first that Rachel had seen that looked genuine. "Yeah, well, that too", she sighed. "No… I wanted to help people. My family was poor growing up, and the scumbags in our neighbourhood made life a whole hell of a lot worse. I wanted to be able to stop that from happening to other people, y'know?" There was a brief pause then, before Ramirez looked at Rachel. "Why'd you want to be a DA?"

Rachel gazed out of the window… it was a question she'd asked herself plenty of times. "I guess…" she started. "I guess I just got sick and tired of seeing this city sink further and further into its hole. Sick of seeing the worst people get the most out of life. I wanted to clean this place up. Some job we're doing, huh?"

Ramirez didn't answer, and they spent the next minute or so in more silence. The car approached a turning, and stopped. Rachel looked out of the window… there were no cars coming, so why were they just waiting there? She looked at Ramirez. There was a… distant look on her face, as though she was trying to decide something important.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, shaking Ramirez out of her daze. "You OK?"

Ramirez smiled weakly. "Yeah", she sighed. "We're here". She put her foot down on the accelerator and the car turned gently into an old, dilapidated car park. Rachel stared up out of the window at the building… it didn't look like anyone had used it for years. Decades, even. Why would they bring Harvey all the way out here?

The car pulled up next to the entrance and they both exited the car. Ramirez led her inside, along a corridor that smelled as though people had been using it as a bathroom. Ramirez stopped in front of an old, rotten door. "Harvey's just through here", she said weakly. "After you".

Rachel hesitated. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was seriously wrong with all of this. Why were there no other people in sight? Why hadn't Harvey called her? She slowly walked over to the door, and pushed it open.

The room beyond was… _horrible_. There was a single window along one of the walls, and the walls were peeling. There was a single metal chair at its centre, bolted into the ground. But what Rachel noticed first of all was the blood… the floor was covered with it. It had soaked into the ground. Rachel guessed that it was maybe a week old.

"What…?" she started to say while turning around. Before she saw it, she _heard_ the click of the gun that Ramirez had drawn. Ramirez had turned pale, and she was shaking, but she held her gun to Rachel's head.

"I'm sorry about this, Rachel", she said, her voice trembling.

Rachel sighed. "That's '_Miss Dawes_' to you", she said. Ramirez swung her weapon around and struck Rachel square in the centre of the forehead.

Then everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 3

"…promised you weren't going to hurt her".

Rachel regained consciousness slowly. As she did so, she heard voices in the distance… voices that she struggled to make out.

"What did you expect, _officer_?"

She tried to speak… to ask where she was, what was happening. At first her memories were blank. She remembered who she was, but nothing from the past few days. Then… flashes… images passed through her vision. She saw Harvey, which made her smile, and Bruce… then she saw a _monster_ with a white face and a sickening smile, and terror that she couldn't describe.

…_It was Ramirez…_

She struggled to open her eyes. All she saw was darkness at first, until her eyes could adjust. She was in a large warehouse, tied to… something behind her. All around her were canisters. A door at the far end of the room was open, and through it she could hear arguing.

"I thought she was just _bait_", she heard a voice cry. It was a woman's voice… _Ramirez_. Anger flared then. _That bitch_, Rachel thought. _How could she…_ She shook her head. _No… now isn't the time for that. I need to get out of here. _She tried moving her hands, but they were handcuffed behind her back and she was firmly secured against one of the canisters, and it was too heavy to move.

"_Bait?_" a man's voice said. "Bait for who? You think we _want_ the cops round here? Or the _Bat_? No… this is about _revenge_. And we couldn't have done it without you. You're a credit to the force".

"Fuck you", Ramirez screamed. Rachel had stopped struggling, and now simply sat and listened. Suddenly, Ramirez's face appeared at the doorway. When she saw that Rachel was awake she stopped, maybe fifteen yards away from her.

"I'm so sorry…" she said, her voice quivering. Rachel stayed silent, though every fibre of her being wanted nothing more than to scream at her. "My mother… she's sick. And I can't afford to pay the medical bills to help her. I don't expect you to forgive me, but… I honestly didn't know what they were planning".

Three men appeared behind her, one with a gun pointed at the back of Ramirez's head. Two of them were wearing balaclavas with leather jackets and jeans, but the third… he had some kind of _mask_ on his face… as black as the night sky. It sat tight around his face, tight enough to make it look more like the outline of a black skull. And he wore a _suit_.

It was this man who seemed to be in charge. He faced Ramirez and tutted. "Officer…" he said, in a mocking tone of voice. "You aren't having second thoughts are you?" Ramirez stayed silent, but the expression on her face answered for her. "Well", the man continued. "Allow me to make it easier on you. If you don't leave right now, my colleague will blow a hole right through the back of your thick skull".

Even from the other side of the room, Rachel could see Ramirez's eyes flare with anger. But she wasn't stupid… there was no way that she could have fought them without getting killed, so she reluctantly left, giving Rachel one final guilt ridden look before leaving her to her fate.

The man in the black mask watched her leave, and after a moment he laughed loudly. "What a bitch", he said, and the other men joined in his laughter. Then they turned their attention to Rachel, who up until then had been doing everything she could to stay silent and unnoticed. They strode over to her, the masked man never taking his eyes from her. Then they simply stood there, silently, for a while.

"Um…" one of the men said. "What are we waiting for, Ramon?"

The black masked man suddenly whirled round and struck the man who'd spoken on the side of the head. "Don't you _ever_ use my name again!" he screamed. "What are you, stupid?"

"B… but…" the man wailed. "She hasn't seen your face! And she'll be dead soon, anyway!"

Rachel felt a coldness grip her heart when she heard those words. So they did mean to kill her… she'd known it for a while, she supposed, but hearing them say it brought the reality home to her. She'd die in this hole… she'd never be able to tell the man she loved that she wanted to marry him.

The man in the black mask turned slowly to face her, and even though she couldn't see his mouth Rachel knew that he was grinning. "Maybe not…" he said, menacingly. "Go and fetch the table and the radio".

The two men turned around and left, leaving Rachel alone with their boss. He knelt down directly in front of her, fixing her his beady eyes.

"Listen", he growled. "Here's what's going down. The Joker's locked up… right? Wrong. It's all part of a plan. We've got you… and we've got your _lover boy_ safe and sound somewhere far away". Rachel whimpered then… they had Harvey, too? She couldn't bear the thought of him being in the same situation as her.

The man grabbed her by her cheeks and turned her so that she was facing him again. "Listen up, bitch", he growled. "This part's important. And it's quite delicious, too. We're going to tell your friends where you are, right? But we've rigged it so that there's only enough time for them to save one of you. So… do you think they'll come running for the _damsel in distress_ or the _white knight_?"

He laughed loudly then, as the reality of what he had just said sunk in to Rachel's head. Either she would die… or the man she loved would. Either way, her life would be over. And… knowing _Bruce_… he'd come running for her, even though Harvey was much more important.

The masked man stood, slowly. "Just between you and me", he whispered. "I hate the Joker. He shot me, see? Robbed _my _bank… and shot me. And I'm gonna kill him. But not yet. Let him get our money back for us, and then I'll rip his heart from his chest".

The other two men appeared behind him then. One of them placed a table in front of Rachel, and the other placed a two way radio on top. Rachel looked at them, quizzically. "Lover boy's on the other end", the man said. "At least you'll be able to talk to him when he dies".

Tears started to roll down Rachel's face, and the man laughed sickeningly. And then they walked away, leaving her tied down in a room full of oil canisters rigged to explode. Rachel waited until she was sure that they were gone, and then she started to scream.

"Hellooooooooooo!" she screamed. "Can anybody hear me? _Hellooooooooooooo_".

"R… Rachel?" a familiar voice said over the radio.

"Harvey!" Rachel screamed in relief. Hearing his voice made her feel… safer, somehow. "Harvey thank god! Are you okay?"

There was a brief pause, then, and Rachel worried that he'd gone away. "I'm alright", his voice answered eventually. "I'm in a… I'm in a warehouse. They got me wired to these oil drums".

So it was true… they had done the same thing to him as they had done to her. _God_, she thought. "I am too", she replied, even though she knew it would just make him worry about her. "Harvey…" she started, but then she heard a strange thud come over the radio, and heavy breathing. "Harvey?"

"I'm OK", he replied.

"Harvey listen", Rachel said. "We don't have a lot of time… they said that only one of us was gonna survive and they were gonna let our friends choose which one".

Another pause. Rachel knew that he must have been close to panicking… she was struggling to keep calm herself.

"OK", he answered eventually. "They're coming for you".

_I know_… Rachel thought. She knew that Bruce wouldn't let her die… and part of her loved him for that. But another part of her would always hate him if he let the man she loved die, even if it meant losing her own life.

"Harvey, just in case", she breathed. "I wanna tell you something, okay?"

"Don't think like that", he answered immediately, trying to comfort her. "They're coming".

"I know they are", she cried, her voice beginning to crack. "But I don't want them to. I don't wanna live without you, and I do have an answer for you. My answer's _yes_".

Then, over the radio, she heard the thud of a large door swinging open, and then Harvey's screams… at first she though he was crying in pain, but that wasn't it.

"No! No! No!" he yelled. "Not me! Why are you coming for me?"

As the realisation of what was happening sunk in, a strange sense of calm filled Rachel. This was _right_, she thought. This was how it should be. Harvey was going to save this city, and he could do it without her.

"No! "Rachel! Rachel!"

Harvey's screams echoed around her head. For the first time since she had seen Harvey's face on TV hours ago, the horrible fear at the pit of her stomach lifted. "Okay", she sighed. "Harvey, it's okay. It's all right. Listen…

"Somewh—"

And then she felt fire pass over her body in an instant that seemed to last a lifetime. She felt her body come apart, and she knew that she had died. But there was no more pain, no more fear… the man she loved was safe. She was at peace.


End file.
